Remembering life inside

Long gone are the days when prisoners languished in Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary. The jail closed in 1971 after 142 years, and today it is a visitor attraction.

Yet the prison still holds vivid memories for those who used to live and work there. Each year former inmates, staff and guards attend reunions, where they trade stories and get a chance to describe their experiences in question-and-answer sessions with the public.

30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

William Harrison, 75, is a former prisoner who served three stints at Eastern State - in 1959 for stealing a car, in 1962 for forging checks and in 1970 for assault.

"I just can't get over how I messed up my life," Harrison said on a visit to his old home ahead of this year's reunion, which was held on May 10.

"When you lose years, you can't get them back. When you are in a place like a prison, you just threw them away," he said.

30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

When the imposing, 980-cell Gothic-style jail opened in 1829, life for prisoners was harsh.

Unlike many other prisons of its day which were large holding pens and work farms, it employed a Quaker-inspired system that isolated prisoners and encouraged them to reflect upon their crimes, according to the official website.

Cells had thick walls, skylights and private yards. Prisoners were made to wear hoods when they were moved so they would not see anyone else.

The system became a model of penal reform and was widely copied.

30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

But by the time Jimmy Dolan (pictured above) arrived in 1962 for a robbery conviction, the solitary confinement system had been abandoned.

The seventy-four-year-old ex-inmate, who now attends the prison reunions, recalls that Eastern State was not a bad place to do time.

There, he said, he met inmates who became his colleagues in crime.

"You met your future partners in the prison system," he said. "Stealing... it was just a part of your life."

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30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

The central observation tower of the Eastern State Penitentiary rises above the prison walls.

30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

The prison's crumbling cell blocks are seen from the tower.

30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

Light from a window illuminates the remains of a cell in block 14.

30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

A visitor wanders through block 7.

30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

A visitor speaks on the phone in the south corridor of the prison.

30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

A painting of the Virgin Mary and child is left peeling in the radio room of the former jail.

30 Apr 2014. PHILADELPHIA, United States. REUTERS/Mark Makela

The Eastern State Penitentiary gatehouse is seen from the central observation tower.